Curse of the Retta
by eccentricrabbit
Summary: It took his eyes a while to adjust to the dark but eventually he made out a small furry something in the furthest corner. The Retta. Will/Helen
1. Chapter 1: Will

_I miss Sanctuary… So here comes a fic. I love reviews. :)_

..

Chapter One:

Will hurried down the empty corridor. They had been searching an abandoned factory for a good hour now and seen no sign of the creature they were looking for. His walkie talkie crackled loudly in the silence.

"Think I found something," Kate told him. "First room next to roof access on left." He quickly consulted the map Henry had managed to procure for them. He checked the image of the creature again while he was at it, and sighed as he had when he first saw it. The "Retta" as it was called looked nothing like the abnormals they were normally searching for. He knew that just because the Retta looked like a pussy cat (literally) it didn't mean they were dangerous. He hadn't read over the entire file to be honest, he just knew that no matter what they weren't to be bitten. Helen had said it took a lot to aggravate a Retta into biting so they should be fairly safe. He trod quietly up the stairs until he reached the right level. He didn't need to figure out what door as Kate was crouched outside the it.

"Hey," she whispered and gestured to the room. "I heard a scuffling noise, I checked the room earlier and there was nothing then, it may have circled back."

"On three…?" Kate waved her stun gun towards the door and nodded towards it. He crouched on the other side of the door in answer.

Helen had assured him that stun guns would be all that they needed. Sometimes she was a little too trusting of abnormals, but he figured he was in more danger not following her directions than being distrusting enough to bring a real firearm.

They didn't kick down the door, just entered the room quietly their guns pointed in front of them. It took his eyes a while to adjust to the dark but eventually he made out a small furry something in the furthest corner. It looked as though it was trying - successfully mind - to camouflage against the back wall. Before it became impossible to see it he pulled the trigger. Kate flicked her gun in the same direction but there was no need for the back up as the abnormal collapsed to the floor. He crept forward and saw it change back to its natural tabby colouring. He gave Kate a thumb up and she gave him a thumb up in return. She would go and get the carrier they had brought for it, and he would monitor it for the moment but it seemed unconscious to him - it's breathing slow and even and its eyes closed.

Not long after Kate had left he heard her running footsteps on the stairs. Without thinking really - he scooped up the prone form of the Retta and began heading towards the door. In a fraction of a second he felt the Retta move in his arms and a strange tingle on his forearm. He dropped the Retta and the cat-like abnormal landed gracefully on its feet and looked up at him with wide green eyes. He recovered quickly and shot it once more. He saw its pupils widen and then it was once more unconscious on the ground.

"What happened?" Kate ran into the room. "I heard you yell something." Had he yelled? Maybe he had.

"It woke up,"

"Are you okay?" He ignored the tingling in his arm, probably just a scratch.

..

Will watched Helen inspect their new abnormal with curiosity. He had almost forgotten about the scratch on his arm until she inspected its paws. She spread the toes and smiled.

"Definitely a Retta, no matter how much it looks like your average tabby." Will remembered the intelligent look he had seen in the abnormals eyes after he had dropped it. No - not your normal cat. Something niggled at the back of his mind, and he frowned.

"Wait, do that again." Helen turned to him, a look of surprise on her face. She grabbed the paw gently in her gloved hands and spread the Retta's toes again. No claws.

"Are you okay Will?" She asked dropping the paw and removing her gloves. "You can take her to her room Kate." She said over her shoulder, and approached Will. His arm itched, probably just his mind reminding him of earlier but he resisted the urge to pull up his sleeve and inspect the injury.

"Yeah," he finally told her, he avoided her scrutinising eyes.

"Okay, if you are sure." She left the room too and Will quickly lifted his sleeve.

Puncture wounds. He felt his face drain of colour and stood still a moment. Helen was very adamant about not being bitten by the Retta. He rummaged through his back pack and found the slightly crumpled file on the Retta.

Sudden and painful death. Not always immediate.

Immortality.

Wait, what...? Death and immortality? He slowed his brain down and read over the paragraph slower. It seemed that no one knew much about them but what they did know was that the Retta's bite would cause an intensely painful death - which seemed to occur suddenly without warning anytime up to fourteen days after the bite... But there was something else. It hadn't been proven, too difficult to research but in some cases the Retta's bite would instead cause the victim to be frozen - age wise that is, being rendered virtually immortal except if they are bitten again by another Retta.

Will's head spun and he sat heavily into the nearest chair in the lab. He was going to die. He knew it. He looked down at the puncture wounds and a wave of calm fell over him. There was no need to frighten the others. It would happen suddenly, at any time. He rose to his feet and gathered his things together. He needed to sleep; it had been a long day.

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2: Helen

Chapter Two:

Cigarettes. It was a disgusting habit and over two and a half centuries she had definitely developed a pretty good sense of self control... But really, a cigarette every few months for someone who - for all intents and purposes - was immortal and couldn't die from lung cancer now could she? She took a drag and looked out over the city. When something troubled her she found herself on the roof of the sanctuary. It was a good place to clear your head, the breeze pulling her dark hair from her neck and making goose bumps rise on her bare arms.

Tonight her thoughts were on her young protégé Will Zimmerman. Something had changed in him in the past few days, not something anyone else appeared to notice... but on thinking of those two and half centuries, she found she was rather perceptive when it came to the people she let get close to her. Without being to airy fairy about it, she felt there was an aura surrounding people and sometimes like a wolf getting a scent of fear in the air, she got a scent of something different. For example when Ashley died she felt Henry's aura changed, and it has remained changed to this day. If you asked her to pinpoint changes in his behaviour she wouldn't be able to. It was the same with Will, but as far as she knew no one close to him had died - nothing traumatic had happened in the Sanctuary either.

"Hey Magnus," speak of the devil. She threw the cigarette to the ground and crushed it with the heel of her boot. "Ah, smoking again?" He shook his head, but a small smile lighted his face. He'd caught her at it once or twice before since he'd been in her life but as far as she knew only he Tesla & John knew of her rather sporadic habit.

"It is a nice night isn't it?" She asked, letting his comment pass.

"Yeah," he answered she watched him move his hand to his hair and nervously ruffle it.

"Is something bothering you?" She patted the edge of the building and sat down waiting for him to sit next to her. He came over slowly and sat down. She found to her surprise that his hand hovered over hers on the edge as if he wanted to rest it on her own hand. She looked at their hands, and again felt a shift in Will's aura. He placed his hand firmly over hers.

"Have you ever thought about what it might be like to..." he trailed off for a moment. "Die...?" He said it quietly and it took her a moment to figure out what he had said. She felt her hand twitch under his, and he removed his hand a slight blush rising to his cheeks. She brought both her own hands into her lap and clasped them tightly together. She couldn't say why but something felt wrong about the way he touched her, it felt somehow... final.

"Now that is a strange question," she turned her blue eyes to his grey ones. He stared into her eyes a moment, but looked away. "I suppose I have, I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask though Will." She chuckled.

"I've been thinking about it," he said, but his voice sounded far away and he went quiet again. She reached out this time and took his hand in hers and squeezed it. Maybe someone had died, maybe he just hadn't told her. He squeezed back, and this time it didn't feel wrong.

"You're truly beautiful Helen," he said quietly. "Inside and out..." He let her hand drop back onto her lap and stood in front of her. She felt a little baffled. She knew that men often found her attractive, but to hear this from Will? For a moment she thought he may bend down and kiss her. Instead he turned. "See you in the morning; I hope you figured out whatever was troubling you."

She watched his retreating form and no words came to mind so she called a quiet "sweet dreams" and he turned and smiled in response before shutting the door behind him. She stared at the closed door. She had come here to figure out why he had changed and all that had happened was for her to become even more confused. Henry had once teased her about Will having a "crush" on her - she hadn't thought anything of it until now. Could this be what was troubling him? It seemed much more than that. And what were the questions on death for? She wracked her brain for all the people Will had spoken of from his past life - but no one came to mind. She felt cold and decided to call it a night.

..

Back in her room under her silky bed sheets she found she felt much less worried. Maybe she was blowing everything out of proportion. She closed her eyes and did what she always did before sleeping; she brought forth memories from her past, mostly good ones. She had so many memories to fit inside her head and she didn't want to lose any of them, maybe thinking of them before she slept would help her retain them.

..

At breakfast Kate and Will were bantering about their upcoming assignment to check in on an abnormal who had decided to leave the Sanctuary and go it alone in the city. She let out a sigh of relief and picked up the tray of eggs, bacon, hash browns and a mug of steaming tea and headed back to her office to eat while she worked. She must have been picking up on something that wasn't there; last night's strangeness seemed to be a dream as Will had barely glanced in her direction. He certainly seemed to be his normal self...

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3: Will

Authors Note: I'm really enjoying writing this. I hope no-one is too OOC. I miss Sanctuary muchly at the moment so I'm making the most of my time off work and getting some writing out. Let me know what you think. :)

..

Chapter 3: Will

..

Life went on. No really, it did. The only time he found to dwell on his mortality came at night when he lay awake. He found himself lifting his sleeve to look at the puncture wounds as if they would tell him what would happen. They remained unchanged, they bled occasionally when he had a shower but mostly he didn't notice them at all. He had been sure to wear long sleeves in company. He knew he should talk to someone, but the selfish part of him hoped he died before he had to explain that at any time he could drop dead. He didn't want their pity; he didn't want to hear someone else say that they couldn't do anything to save him. It would make things so much worse. Sometimes he found himself worrying about the "painful" part, but tried his hardest not to imagine what kind of pain it would be.

Will had bumped into Magnus the night before and before he could stop himself he had blurted out his thoughts. He tried to tell himself it was probably the venom working through his system that made him tell her those things. But really it was more like the fear of pain and death was beginning to set in and some of the things in his head he felt like he should say aloud, he doesn't want to - literally - die without saying so many of the things he holds inside normally.

He kicked the covers off and put some socks on. Time for a wander, there was no point lying in bed lost in thoughts of death. He shut the door with a quiet snick and headed down the hall, not really worrying about where he ended up.

..

"Will?" He turned to find the Big Guy back down the corridor the way he had just come.

"Hey, Biggie" he smiled and smoothed down his hair. "Can't sleep either?"

"Nah," he grunted.

"Want to go for a walk outside?"

"Yeah," it took Will a moment to figure out of the grunt he'd just heard was a 'yeah' or 'nah'. He carried on walking towards the elevator and Biggie followed answering for him.

For such a large person - for that's what Will had begun to think of him as - he walked rather quietly. He hadn't really thought about it before, but now in the middle of the night with a cold sweat of fear making his body tremble he thought of that. And of how Biggie had become a friend to him, and how the first time he met him he'd nearly wet himself in fright. He chuckled aloud, and Big Guy turned to look at him curiously.

"It's funny, but I was thinking about the time I first met you." Big Guy let out a bark of laughter.

"You were terrified," Will blushed

"It was that obvious?"

"Yeah," Big Guy grunted. "I think Dr. Magnus was rather amused."

They exited the front doors and a cold breeze ruffled Will's hair and he shivered. It was refreshing though, and since he'd bumped into the Big Guy he hadn't thought much of the bite. Of his death.

..

He didn't know how long they had wandered around the gardens. They had walked in a comfortable silence. Will liked that - even when the Big Guy had an inkling something was wrong - he kept quiet. At this stage if someone pried into his thoughts he probably wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut. The fear had dissipated once more, and he felt numb. Something in him wanted to see the Retta again though, and after saying goodbye to Biggie at the front door he headed to the elevator.

The Retta walked over to him and stared at him through the glass, her large green eyes looking more intense even than before.

"What have you done?" He whispered. The Retta tilted her head to the side and carried on looking at him. A wave of anger hit him and he punched the glass, hard. He swore at the sudden throbbing pain in his knuckles and cradled his hand to his chest. He took one last look at Her before turning back the way he had come.

His hand still throbbed as he reached the floor of his bedroom. He contemplated just going to bed, maybe the pain would be a good distraction... then tomorrow he would have to explain to everyone why his hand was swollen and red. He was best to find Magnus; she would get the swelling down for him. He knew where her bedroom was but more often than not he would find Magnus in her office, so he headed there first. He knocked with his good hand and felt a twinge in his injured hand as the vibration traveled through his body.

"Come in," he opened the door and gave her a sheepish grin. How was he to explain this one? Why hadn't he thought up an excuse before he came in? Instead of giving her some cock and bull story he sat down on her couch silently and left his injured hand cradled in his lap. "What is it?" She stood up, a couple of papers fluttered to the floor. She ignored them and came around to sit next to him on the couch. She gave him one quick look over and then gently took his injured hand from his lap.

"I'm sorry, Helen." She looked up to meet his eyes.

"I've been trying to figure out what is wrong with you Will, you really have been a puzzle to me these past few days. I think there is something you need to tell me." She held his gaze, and he found he couldn't look away. He took a deep breath and she gently rubbed her thumb over his wrist avoiding the swollen knuckles she soothed him.

"She bit me," it sunk in pretty quickly, as usual for Magnus. He didn't even get a chance to pull up his sleeve, she had already (painfully) dropped his injured hand so that it bumped against his knee - and her hands were on his sleeves pulling them up. She stared at the puncture wounds on his left forearm for what felt like minutes, but probably wasn't near as long.

"Oh Will," she sighed. She looked up at him and put a hand to his forehead as if checking for a temperature. "Will," she repeated.

"Do you - uh - know what will happen to me?" She shook her head sadly. "But you... know everything." Normally that would get a chuckle out of her, but he supposed she hadn't had as many days to get used to the idea.

"You need to come down to the infirmary Dr. Zimmerman," great... he was Dr. Zimmerman again - not Will. She stood up and picked up the papers that had fallen. "You should have told me sooner, maybe we could have figured this out." She didn't turn around as she spoke but as he stood she turned around and he almost walked straight into her. Blue eyes bored into his, and he could see the pain in them.

"What am I supposed to say Magnus?" He retorted, his voice probably a lot sharper than it needed to be. "Oh, by the way... The Retta bit me, so I'm going to die and yeah..." He trailed off. He was being silly and he knew it. Damn it though, didn't he have a right to be immature? This could be his last few moments on earth for all they knew! She didn't respond, just made a tired huffing noise and headed towards her door.

"Come now," she told him. He sighed again. It did feel good he supposed, telling Magnus what had happened. He didn't have such a large secret weighing him down now. And if anyone was going to figure things out, it would be her. A small bubble of hope rose to his chest for the first time since he'd been bitten. Could there be a way out? All the reading he had done was really nothing compared to the knowledge of the two and a half century old woman walking in front of him. No she may not know everything, but she would certainly know more than Will did about the Retta. He felt a small smile tugging at his lips. Was there hope after all?

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4: Helen

Chapter 4: Helen

For the first time in a long time, a _really_ long time – Helen couldn't place the feeling that had risen inside her the moment she learned the truth. She knew she felt anger, she felt sadness, and she felt betrayal… another feeling still hovered there too though, and she tried her best to ignore it.

"Take of your shirt," she said, keeping her voice neutral. She kept her exterior calm and ignored the maelstrom of emotions fighting their way to the surface and found the thermometer. She watched as Will painfully removed his long-sleeved shirt his red and swollen knuckles looked broken at first glance but she had a lot more to worry about than that. Once he had lain the shirt aside she put the digital thermometer in his ear and waited for the beep.

"I'm sorry," she didn't answer; she just looked him in the eyes and then removed the thermometer.

"Have you had any headaches or nausea? Anything unusual…?"

"No," he answered, seeming a little put-out at her response – or lack of – to his apology.

"Your temperature is fine." She took the plastic of the end and threw it into the bin. "I need to do some blood-work." She worked in silence, taking his blood, and giving him a thorough check-over. She then tended to his broken knuckles and gave him a shot of painkillers.

"Can I go back to my room?" Will asked, glancing up at the clock which said 4.00am.

"No, wait here while I check your blood for any abnormalities."

..

"Doc," she glanced over her shoulder. She had just put Will's blood into the centrifuge as Kate and Henry entered the room, and spoke simultaneously.

"Something is wrong with the Retta," Henry said, glaring at Kate (albeit good-naturedly) as if it was her fault for speaking at the same time as him.

"What is wrong with her?" She tried not to let the bitterness enter her voice. She had been ecstatic to have such a rare specimen and be able to care for her… but all of a sudden she felt angry. The Retta had bitten Will. It may have been Will's own fault for all she knew, but she still felt anger and her eyebrows drew together in frustration.

"She has become lethargic; the alarms went off and woke me because her heart is slowing." She sighed. Ideas of what could be happening flitted through her brain as she followed the young staff members to the Retta's room. The anger she felt towards the abnormal diminished when she entered the room and saw the small cat-like creature lying limply in the Big Guy's arms. She pulled the stethoscope from around her neck and placed the buds into her ears. She took the Retta from his arms and sat on the floor draping the limp body across her lap. After listening for a minute or so and watching the ticking clock she looked up at the eager faces of Kate and Henry.

"I believe she's dying." The Retta looked up at her, the green eyes seemed to be fading and it couldn't hold up its head for long. "Could you get me my kit?" They knew what she meant and Kate hurried to get it. They needed to run some blood tests and figure out what had gone wrong. For all she knew the reason they could catch this Retta (as they seem to be rather elusive in all the research she had done) was because it was old and weak.

"Magnus," she turned at Will's voice. He looked pale and drawn at she couldn't tell for sure but she thought she could see perspiration beading on his forehead. She looked at the Retta and back up at him.

"Henry, take the Retta for me, please get Biggie to help you take blood." She turned just in time to see Will collapse to the ground.

"Doc, what's going on?" Henry asked, wide-eyed and almost comically looking from the Retta to Will.

"I'll explain later. Just help her." She crouched next to Will and felt for a pulse – again reigning in her emotions and trying not to let Henry see how terrified she was. Her heart leaped in surprise at the steady throb of a heartbeat beneath her fingertips. He was _alive_! She took a limp wrist in her hands and looked back up at the clock, checking his heart-rate. Next she checked his breathing.

"M-magnus…?" Just as she finished he woke, looking disorientated.

"We need to get you back to the infirmary." She told him. Kate had arrived and she took one look at Will on the floor and dropped the kit next to Henry.

"Do you need help?" She asked. Helen shook her head.

"I can get up," Will slowly pulled himself into a sitting position – rubbing his head which he had hit on the floor when he fainted.

"Time is of the essence, Will." She reached out a hand and helped him to his feet – and wrapped an arm around his waist supporting him. He leaned heavily into her and they headed to the elevators, leaving the Retta in the capable hands of Henry and Kate.

..

"What symptoms do you have?" She asked the moment he was back lying on the hospital bed. His breathing had become obviously laboured now.

"Hard – hard – to breath." He managed and rolled onto his side. "H-hot and c-cold." She placed a hand on his sweaty forehead and once more took his temperature. It remained the same as before.

"Is it hard to breathe because you are in pain?" Will nodded, his eyes glazing. "Where are you in pain?"

"Acid – in – my – veins." She was at a loss; she really needed to finish his blood-work so she would know what she was dealing with.

"I'll give you some morphine," she gave him a fairly high dosage as obviously the pain was intense. Will had a high pain threshold she had noticed before.

"T-thank you. I'm so-so s-sorry." He stumbled over his words and looked at her pleadingly. She knew what he wanted and her heart melted. He was dying, and he wanted her to forgive him. She might not _understand_ why he kept the knowledge of the Retta bite from her – but she _did_ forgive him.

"It's okay Will," she told him. "Everything will be okay, you will see." She bent down and kissed him on his clammy forehead and brushed a piece of hair from it. She had lied, she really didn't think everything would be okay… but he needed some false hope right now…

…

She didn't understand. There was nothing obvious in his blood. His temperature was fine… his breathing laboured and agonising pain… but _nothing_ in his blood. Was it his brain? Did the venom affect his brain? She slammed the heel of her hand into the desk in frustration.

"I'm going to get you a CT scan," she told him as she returned to his room. She unlocked the wheels on his bed and began wheeling it out the door. He nodded, but seemed to be in too much pain to answer her. She wheeled him into the CT room and helped him onto the bed inside the machine. He wasn't much help as he kept twitching in pain and almost hit her in the face at least twice. Just as she seated herself in front of the monitor Kate and Henry appeared in the doorway – their faces flushed as if they had been running.

"She died," Henry told her.

"What's wrong with Will?" Kate asked. Before she had time to respond to either of them Will began thrashing in the CT machine, a lot more than he had before.

"Will," she all but pushed Kate out of the way to get to the machine hurriedly pressing the button on the remote in her hand which rolled the bed back out into the open. His eyes were rolling and froth had appeared at the corners of his mouth. She reached for him but as suddenly as it had begun, his body slumped and he laid still his head lolling to the side.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5: Helen

Chapter 5: Helen

..

_Ashley…_

All she could see was her daughter – bathed in sunlight and a smile equally as bright on her face.

"Happy Birthday Ash," she handed her daughter a small parcel wrapped in purple with a silver bow on top.

_The tree of life…_

She remembered that birthday. Ashley had turned thirteen so she had given her daughter the necklace with the Tree Of Life charm her father had given her at the same age. It basically meant she was born to shelter others. Not so much in the human sense she mused, but caring for abnormals was what both she and her daughter had been born to do.

..

"DOC," she broke from her reverie and blinked rapidly trying to clear her vision. Henry was waving his hand in front of her face and calling her, his eyes were wide with terror and she could see Kate trying to revive Will out of the corner of her eye. She must have left the room, her brain responding to the pure terror of losing Will by throwing her into disassociation and bringing forth memories of her dead daughter. Something changed in her brain and suddenly everything came back into focus. She quickly pushed Kate aside and checked for a pulse. Kate moved over to Henry and she could see that they held hands, both terrified of losing their friend.

"He was bitten by the Retta," she told them calmly. Kate shook her head.

"He would have told me, I would have seen!"

"If it makes you feel better-" she told her as she collected everything she needed to try and revive the man before her. "-he only just told me a few hours ago." She had just finished drawing up the epinephrine when she saw Will's eyes flutter. "Will," she watched his chest rise and fall. There was no gasping; no sudden or obvious change but Will began breathing on his own. She placed her fingers against the pulse point on his neck and felt his heart fluttering beneath her fingertips. She was joined by Kate and Henry and Will opened his eyes properly.

"Am I alive…?" Will had moisture beneath his eyes, and his forehead still shone with sweat but she placed her hand over it and found he was no longer sweating.

"How do you feel?"

"Like I've run a marathon," he told her lifting a hand to rub across his face. She helped him sit up and swing his legs over the side of the bed. He looked as though he felt dizzy, but she couldn't see any obvious signs of pain.

"What is my name?" She asked him.

"Doctor Helen Magnus," he raised an eye brow. "What happened to me?"

"And her…?" She pointed to Kate.

"Kate Freelander,"

"And where are we situated now?"

"In the CT room of the Sanctuary, Old City…" He shook his head. "I'm fine Magnus, really."

"You stopped breathing," she told him and tried to ignore the way her eyes couldn't leave his face, she couldn't get enough of him really. He was _alive_, he was truly _alive_!

"I know," he surprised her, and she cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"You know… what?"

"She gave her life for me." Will looked between his three friends faces, as if trying to make sure they knew he was telling the truth.

"How do you know?" Kate asked, obviously burning with curiosity.

"I saw her when I… you know…" _Died._ She finished it for him, and suddenly felt a little light headed. Will had died in front of her. He had been in agonising pain, and he had died… Just as the research predicted. But he lived now, he had come back… Why?

"You need some rest Will. I will do a necropsy on the Retta. I'm not sure what happened here, but we will figure it out." She didn't understand why he had seen a vision of the Retta when he died; whether it was something the abnormals venom somehow produced she was unsure. With a trembling hand she took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Come now," Kate and Henry backed off.

"I think I need some fresh air," Kate told her.

"I'll get the Retta then," Henry patted Kate on the shoulder as he walked past and nodded at Will. He looked pale and shocked. She figured she probably looked the same.

..

As she studied the remains of the Retta all she could think of was _immortality_. Could it be true? Could something in the Retta's venom have given Will the same kind of gift the source blood had given her? She threw away her gloves, frustrated she covered the Retta and slipped her body into the cold storage room. Her body had told her nothing. She didn't know how to age it, so had no idea whether it was old or not. It had no wounds, all she could tell was that something had damaged the heart and brain and very rapidly. She sighed and headed back to the infirmary to check on Will. She was obviously happy that Will had survived; but mystery surrounded the entire situation and she needed to figure things out. Could Will _still_ die? The fourteen days weren't up, maybe today was just a prelude to what was coming? Or was this it… did Will live forever because of one small abnormals bite?

..

TBC.


End file.
